Almanac

Schools - August 28, 2013

Woodside School hosts
bond measure meetings

by Renee Batti

Residents of the Woodside Elementary School District who want to know more about the district's facilities plans and funding needs can learn about them during meetings scheduled for this week and in September.

The meetings are set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28; 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9; and 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24. The meetings will be held in the Wildcats Room on the school campus at 3195 Woodside Road in Woodside.

The district's board will decide in March whether to place a bond measure on the June ballot asking voters to help raise new funds for construction of several buildings, and for safety and modernization projects at the school.

Identified projects are estimated to cost about $16 million, but parent volunteers are working to raise some of the money from private donors, said Superintendent Beth Polito.

Of the building projects, the highest-cost item would be the demolition of the Sellman Auditorium and construction of a new building that would include a permanent stage, added storage, connection to the campus' music room, a new food service area, and restrooms, according to a report from earlier this year. That project would cost an estimated $7.67 million.

Other projects under consideration include the demolition of the existing relocatable classroom and the construction of two new classrooms, at an estimated cost of about $1.7 million; the demolition of the existing relocatable classroom No. 19 and construction of a new 1,000-square-foot flexible classroom space, at an estimated cost of $711,000; and safety, security, maintenance and modernization projects costing an estimated $5.9 million.

Ms. Polito said the three community meetings are being held to provide information, primarily to district voters who don't have children in the school, about details of the facilities plan and why a bond measure may be the most viable option to pay for the projects.